Blast from the Past
by HighlandMaster
Summary: Blake was sure that all her past from the White Fang had been left behind. This one new factor that has upset quite a bit of memories, and conflicting emotions. A forgotten friend has come back to life.
1. Chapter 1

**Blast from the Past**

The smells of old textbooks and coffee filled the air as I walked down the long hallway to the classroom. The white of the halls has, strangely, never faded. The beautiful stone pillars, the beautiful maroon curtains and even the blue carpet in the center of the floor.

"Well, this is it." I said quietly to myself walking through the familiar halls of Beacon.

I stepped through the doorway to the classroom, seeing the white tile floor, the glow of the sun through tall windows, and seeing the students at the mahogany desks with the gold inlaid around the edges. Hearing the laughter of students brought back fond memories of my school time here. Friends poking fun at each other's expenses and the scribbling of pencils on paper as the class was about to begin.

"Good day class!" I announced my presence loudly enough to be heard over everything going on.

It suddenly grew silent and everyone looked to the door to the hall. There were pale faces and a mix of worried and excited looks from each of the students. As I walked to the front of the class, I heard whispers, some very laughable and some interesting as these Huntsman and Huntresses in training were being quite observant about my appearance.

* * *

Blake was listening to the whispers as this strange Professor, probably a substitute, casually made his way to the front of the classroom.

"…..His eye!"

"His head….."

_Probably battle scars from years of being a huntsman._

"..White Fang…"

She froze and turned pale at this statement. Had someone from the white fang infiltrated beacon? Were they here to recruit, or corrupt, the Faunus Huntsman and Huntresses to be? Whatever the motivations they had to be here were currently unknown to Blake, but she would find them out.

She slowly turned to look at the Professor, something she almost regretted. He was a tall man, with broad shoulders and half of his head was shaven clean leaving his Jade hair hanging over the left side of his head and down to his neck. Two battle scars were on his head, one the right side of his head, a clearly visible scar from probably an Ursa or a Beowolf, and one on his left eye, leaving it looking a little paler than the right eye. Yet the eyes were the part that interested her the most. He had snake eyes, having the eyes of the animal was a very rare trait among Faunas, and also a small trail of bronze scales leading down into his shirt.

What gave it away that she should be worrying was the blue White Fang tattoo on the left side of his face. It was odd though the tattoo was of the older design of the White Fang, not the newer version. This worried Blake, she couldn't push away the thought that she was being tracked by the White Fang in her very school or, that this man in front of her, reminded her of an old friend she had long forgotten. As the color slowly but fully returned to her face, the Professor began the lecture.

* * *

As I got to the front of the class room I looked among the students and saw some pale faces, the one I arrived here to meet with, ones with curiosity, and others containing blind fury, particularly Ms. Schee's, maybe it was because of my very favorable choice of facial artistry.

"As I said, good morning class and welcome to the first day of your advanced combat training this semester. You might have noticed that Professor Port is not here, he is recovering from a mission and I am the substitute that will be filling in.

"As some of you may have guessed, I was once a member of the White Fang." I pointed to the tattoo on the left side of my face. "Now Miss Schnee I hope I have nothing to worry about, you wouldn't rat me out to the police would you?" I finished sarcastically, added in a wink for fun too, and one or two students chuckled.

"O-of course not sir!" she had been caught so off guard that a Beowolf pup could have easily killed her and the girl in red beside her almost busted a gut for some odd reason.

"Great, now those who have been keeping up with both past and current events know that I just made a joke. So pay attention to the news and in your history classes so you will be knowledgeable of my next one. You never know who'll be a target next.

"Also as you can plainly see, I have lost an eye fighting for Faunas rights." I pulled my hair back with my right hand so the students could get a good look. "I was at rally and a stone was thrown at my face when I was 15." I saw the looks of doubt crawl across their faces. "Since I fought for what some people believed wasn't right, I was subject to their scorn because of it."

That quelled some of the whispers, but not all.

"The other scar I will enlighten you about at a later date.

"Now enough about me, I have reviewed enough information about each individual and your respective teams to know what to expect from whom. So don't try to half ass it, I'll know."

As I heard a couple sighs of relief and saw a student leaned back in his seat, I smiled.

_Perfect, time to take notice._

"You know what this means don't you?" Their concerned faces turned to meet mine.

"My lessons will teach you differently than Professor Port's would have taught. That being said all of the material will be covered for however long he is out.

"Now, beginning from where Mr. Port left off….."

* * *

During class it racked Blake's mind as to who this professor was, something about him brought back a feelings of both happiness and pain. These two very opposite feelings could only be brought on by two very profound individuals, one was an old friend who died protecting her, and the other she ran from.

The first person was someone who was about ten years older, she never firmly knew his age yet he was an older brother of sorts. Never knowing what really happened to him after his supposed death, she gave up a small search about three weeks later when the search party arrived back with his weapon Soaked in blood. If he hadn't wanted to be found, he would've done anything to keep it that way. If he had died he would've gone out fighting until the bitter end.

The second person was more of a brutal mentor, someone who would force the supposed right way on everyone. He was a sweet boy in the beginning but he ended up being a monster in the end because of how the goals were never being achieved, and a confrontation with his best friend left him feeling bitter and twisted. He then was lost in hate and rage, so she left the former friend and joined Beacon.

_Why are these feelings coming back now, what does this mean?_ It bothered her for the rest of the class.

* * *

The bell had sounded and the students had begun to start closing their books and filing out of the class.

"I'm expecting a report on pages 100-160 by next week, class!" groans were met with this statement.

Spotting her before she could disappear into the wave of people and never be seen again I called to her.

"Miss Belladonna would you mind staying, I'd like to have a word with you."

The other members of her team were looking at each other concerned at this statement.

"Don't worry girls nothing terrible, just need to talk to her for a bit, catching up for old time's sake." I smiled genuinely in a way to reassure her friends.

Her friends seemed a little reassured and left, once the class was empty I shut the door and looked to Blake.

"How much has Adam changed?" I inquired, stone faced and emotionless.

"I-I beg your pardon?" Feigning ignorance which clearly didn't work. The pale colour of her skin gave it all away.

"Blake, I know you recognize me and I know who you were, who you are, kitten." I finished that sentence with a smile and a little sarcasm.

With that one sentence, the sudden clarity of a long forgotten friend and brother, whether he was blood related or not, was not even attempted to be hidden on her face.

"Xander? Is that you? I thought you died, we all did! What happened to you?" Tears were starting to form under her eyes, these tears were the cause of all the pain, suffering and happiness we shared over what felt like a lifetime ago.

"Surely you didn't forget the only one to defeat Adam to date, have you?" I boasted to her, with a big smile on my face.

"Well of course not, you wouldn't shut up about it." She laughed while wiping tears away from her face.

"Well what can I say, that fight was toughest I fought up until then. Also I come all this way to catch up and maybe get some info and I don't get no stinking hug, well thanks for that kitten." I laid the sarcasm on thick there, then turned away feigning sadness.

She had laughed at that, 'Well you never said you wanted one, so I didn't offer."

I turned around and Blake and I embraced each other for a minute, "It's good to see that my little sister is okay after all these years."

She broke form the hug and retorted quite factually, "Why do you still insist on calling me your little sister? We aren't even related."

"Because after what we went through together you'll always be my little sister, that's a fact." I was starting to cry at this point too.

"Alright, enough catching up." I slowly edged out of the hug and she backed off. "You know by now the real reason I came here kitten, don't you?" I became straight faced and almost cold once again.

"I believe so, yes. You're here to fight Adam again, aren't you?" She questioned, I nodded to confirm her suspicions.

"So," I sighed "How much has Adam changed since he took over The White Fang?" We were in for a long evening.


	2. Chapter 2: Adam and Xander

Chapter 2: Adam and Xander meet Blake

It was another beautiful day, in our quiet village. Living outside the City was tough but it was rewarding in its own way. Everyday there were things to do. Lookout for Grimm attacks, prepare the meals, and help out at the local hospital. I had just finished my morning tour of the wall and was told that I could go meet up with my best friend, Adam Taurus. Adam was almost 6, and as sharp as a whip too. He was in the kitchen help the chef prepare the meals for all the Faunas in the village.

Our village was small and only just outside of the City of Mistral, and by just outside everyone meant about 10-15 Kilometres from the city limits. While we were in constant danger, life was also good, the strong protected the weak so the weak could become strong.

"Hey Adam, What are-" I slipped on the wet tiled floor and a crack was heard throughout the large kitchen as my face met the floor.

"Xander, What are you doing here, are you alright?" he was holding back laughter but couldn't stop giggling about what just happened.

Clutching my nose in a desperate but failing attempt to stop the bleeding, I continued "Here to see you! You stupid bull, how have you been?"

"Here, for your nose Xander." The chef of the small mess hall, Ryan Willowwood, handed me a small ragged towel that had been torn from extended use for my bleeding nose. Ryan was a tall man, well tall compared to any 12 year old, but something about the way he walked just never stopped impressing me. It was a walk that almost oozed confidence in what he was doing and I always asked him about what his secret was, but he would never tell me because I would 'have to figure out what makes me hold my head high.'

"Thanks Ryan, how many times is it now?" I took the towel and held it under my nose to catch any blood that was dripping down now.

"This makes seven, so stop slipping on the floor and be careful." He retorted pretty cockily

"Anyway" Adam had finally interrupted "I've been great Snake Eyes. Hey, you hear about the Belladonnas?"

"No, what?" Both curiosity and worry began to form in my mind, the Belladonnas had been close friends of my father long before both joined the White Fang. That's the group that brought everyone together here, we are Faunus who live out here away from the I have known them for as long as I can remember, they had been there for me and my father since my mother, Jade, died out on a hunt for food protecting the others so they could return to hunt another day…

She was a sweet woman, as any mother should be. She was tall, for a woman, and was very strong too. She would never raise her voice or strike me, unless we were playing. Her hair was as green as her name was, and I loved it because I had it too. One day she went out with the rest of the hunters to gather food for the village, it was a foggy day but I knew she would be strong. What my father, Bronze, and I didn't expect was someone else to knock on the door at the end of one day.

My father was a tall and well-built man, what some might say is that he was an Ursa in a human body, but after we got the news he had withdrew into himself as if he was a baby turtle lying on its back helpless to the dangers of the world.

This was the second time I had seen him this helpless, the first was when he lost part of his arm that had been bitten off by an alpha Beowolf protecting me. I had wandered outside the village and a pack of Beowolves were quietly hunting me. I had tripped on a tree root and turned around to see a Beowolf jumping at me, then my father had gotten in the way, saving my life and protecting me just long enough for my mother and other hunters to jump into the fray to kill the pack. Once he was all patched up, he was fine until about a day later.

He started drinking and wasting his nights outside the house so I wouldn't notice, but that soon failed, I had approached him one day before my 7th birthday and had asked him,

"Daddy, what are you scared of? We have mommy and our cat friends to help protect us."

And that one sentence seemed to knock him out of whatever funk he had been in, anything my mother or the Belladonnas had tried never seemed to get through, yet somehow my kind and genuine words got through. Once he quit drinking, he had become the smiling and caring father I had always known him for.

Once we had received the news of my mother dying, what happened after almost feels like a blur of pain and sorrow. My father and I would step up to help out around the village as much as he could, but at night he would sometimes cry himself to sleep, and I had so many nightmares that sleep became a chore to push through. He was working for the Lumber yard since before my mother died and just stopped going in one day, no one knew the whole reason but they had an idea, and decided to leave him alone. So I stepped up one day to provide for the both of us.

"Hey Xander!" Adam yelled.

"Huh, what?" I had finally snapped out of my unfortunate trip down memory lane.

"You okay, you had that look again." Adam was a sweet kid, always concerned for me.

"I'm fine, what did you want to tell me about the Belladonnas?" suddenly remembering about some news.

"Oh yeah! Their baby was just born it's-" Adam started.

"Don't tell me, I want to see!" I interrupted.

We quickly rushed over to the hut where the Belladonnas lived, it was only a few houses away from the kitchen so it was a very short run. Once we arrived we slowly approached the front door and knocked carefully.

"Come in!" A deep voice boomed, it was no doubt Mr. Ivory Belladonna, happy as can be.

"Would you be quiet, she's sleeping!" a quieter voice snapped at him.

We slowly opened the door and looked carefully inside house. Inside the house we walked into the main living area to see them. There was Mr. Belladonna, all 6 feet and 20 stone of him with just one big stupid smile on his rugged but still clean face. He had thick streaks of black in his yellow-white hair, which had been there since he was born, hence the name Ivory. He was standing beside his wife Mrs. Lily Belladonna, who was about 5'6" sitting in a rocking chair, holding a small infant girl with black hair.

"What's her name?" Adam inquired

"Blake" Lily replied

"She's so small, and she has cat ears too, just like you Mr. B!" I felt very excited for some reason, she wasn't my sister but the Belladonna's were practically family at this point.

"She won't be able to play with you for a few years okay?" Lily had said, a little worry in her voice.

"Alright" Adam and I almost said simultaneously exasperated. We went outside to continue our duties for the village.

We left the house so Lily could rest, but Ivory followed us out.

"How come she doesn't have your white hair?" I had asked.

"Don't know Xander, but she has my ears though" That made him smile even more.

"I can't wait for her to be older, we're going to have so much fun!"

"Well, for now you boys should get back to your duties, Xander tell your father that he can come over anytime." I nodded, we had taken a break to go see Blake, but it was time to get back to work.

* * *

"Man I'm bushed, I'm heading home."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow Xander." Adam left to head to his house, it was a five minute walk from my place so he was never far.

"Dad, I'm home." I announced

As I walked through the doorway to our house, I smelled something cooking. While we were encouraged to eat in the local hall, all houses came equipped with a small kitchen for each inhabiting it, if they wanted to eat at home.

"Hey Xander, how was your day?" The light in his eyes wasn't fully back yet, but there was still embers where a roaring flame had been years ago. He was cooking some stir fry, which smelled delicious.

"Dad, are you COOKING?" I practically fell down once I saw a smile, my father hasn't smiled genuinely in a long time.

"What do you think?" He asked, holding a pan out in front of me.

"It smells delicious, dad, what happened that made you change?" That had hit a nerve, I felt a pang of guilt for asking that.

"I was tired of being useless." He was pretty blunt about it, "I mean think about it, and your mother would have thrown me out to the Beowolves way earlier, huh?"

He made me laugh at that statement, "yeah, then she would've gone in after and kicked your butt back inside."

He started laughing so hard that he put the pan back on the stove and went to sit down nearly crying from laughter. I finished cooking the stir fry and put the pan on the table the living room. As I walked in he had begun to calm down.

"Look, I know I haven't been the number one dad, but-"

"You don't have to worry about it dad, I forgive you okay. Even though it hurt, you helped me come to terms with moms passing, and grow up a little too."

He started crying, "You don't know how much that means to me, I still haven't forgiven myself for doing this to you."

"Well," I started crying now "I forgive you." And hugged him.

**A/N: Alright the review, albeit there was only one, was very helpful. I need more reviews though to produce even better quality story. I have an idea of which way I want this to go with this and I need criticism to get there. PLEASE review if you can.**


	3. Chapter 3: Cacthing up

**Catching up**

Back in the Beacon classroom, the tall windows let the now setting sun into the room. Blake was sitting in the front row of the mahogany desks, with her having finally caught me up on all that's transpired at Beacon over the past year, I sat down at the desk and let out a sigh.

"So you all took on a horde of Grimm in Mountain Glenn, just to find a White Fang hideout. Am I getting this right, no tainted or corrupt information?" I finished, still level headed about what had happened.

"Yes even the part about the White Fang, the White Fang we used to be a part of that vehemently hates humans and would kill one without a second thought."

I leaned back in my seat, "They must be getting desperate then, and they wouldn't be working with a human unless they knew that it was their only option left. Unless…"

"Unless what? Xander what is it?" Blake was beginning to see a plan form.

"What if they knew they would eventually need the cooperation of a human, or multiple humans, to move large masses of equipment, dust and troops around?" I threw the thought to Blake.

"Then they would have the ability to move freely within the walls and between the kingdoms to organize an attack, like the train that came from Mountain Glenn." Blake threw the thought right back.

"Exactly, I believe that Vale is the trial run because of one factor." I finished

"What's that?" Blake asked back

"Not what, who." Blake looked at me questioningly. "What if there was a huntsman or Huntress so powerful that they needed to be eliminated first, so that way there would be no one stronger than the White Fang." The clarity started to appear on Blake's face. "That one obstacle to the White Fang from a achieving their goal is Professor Ozpin." I continued "Adam doesn't know that I'm still alive, of that I'm sure, that being said, he can't know I exist until this supposed assault happens, that's when we break his forces, their spirit and cripple his army."

"That's a lot of information Xander" Blake started.

I smiled and put my left hand behind my head, I had just accidentally overloaded her. "Yeah, sorry about that. I tend to go a little overboard."

"A little you potentially devised an entire war, and a way to end it, in under five minutes. That's more than a little." She finished the statement with some harshness, but still genuinely happy she had an old friend to see her at Beacon.

"Hey, I have an idea! Why don't I meet your team, Friday night work?" That caught her off guard

"I don't think that would be a very-" she started, wary of having her two worlds collide together.

"Great, Friday night it is! We'll head into Vale, the ride there and back will be my treat." I shouted, interrupting her mid-sentence. "I know the perfect place where I'll convince the owner to let your leader in."

"Wait," she started. "Don't you think I should talk about this with my team first?"

"Sure, sure, see you Friday night!" I walked away humming a little tune to myself.

_Ugh, he's still that same Xander. Sharp as a blade, yet single-minded whenever he isn't serious._ She finished up in the class room and shut the door, hearing the locking mechanisms clicking once the door was shut.

* * *

As Blake walked to her dorm room, she could hear the racket coming from across the hall in team JNPR's room.

"Hey, Nora what are you doing!?" Put Jaune down, be careful!" Pyrrha was almost yelling

THUD

"Ugh, that hurt Nora." Juane grimaced

"You're fine Jaune, besides it's not like I would've dropped you on your head." Nora retorted

_I don't know how she hasn't killed him yet, maybe Pyrrha's kept her from doing that._

She stopped eavesdropping on JNPR and walked through her door.

"Blake's back." Yang announced

"What happened?" Ruby said even Weiss was curious too.

"He's an old friend from my days in the White Fang," Weiss got visibly nervous at his statement. "Don't worry Weiss, he left long before the attacks ever became commonplace for the White Fang." This statement seemed to calm her down significantly

"I'm glad to hear that he never stooped so low as to think that murder and destruction were the right way to go." She sounded like her old self again.

"Yeah, He got you good in class though Weiss." Ruby snickered Weiss became red at his statement.

"The only reason that worked was because I wasn't prepared." She retorted with a half cocked answered.

"Sure, Ice Queen." Yang jumped in as well

"Anyway, he asked us to go with him to Vale Friday night, he'll understand if you guys don't want to-"

"Of course we'd love to go!" Yang practically shouted

"It would give us some time to get acquainted with him." Weiss added.

"Plus it could be fun." Chimed Ruby.

"Fine, we'll head to the launch pad and meet him there on Friday." Submitted Blake

* * *

As I was walking down the long hall to my study, my scroll started buzzing, I opened it to see who was calling.

"Hello?"

"Xander Mac?" a female voice was on the speaker but I paid the image no mind

"Well if it wasn't me, then who would it be?" I retorted

"Stop with the Jokes and come to Professor Ozpin's office."

"Up in the highest room in the tallest tower, so I can save the princess from the dreaded Ozpin. I am on my way."

"Stop that and just get up here." She wasn't pleased with that one.

"Jeez you're a stick in the mud, but fine, I'm on my way up now." _All she needs is a good fuck and that would straighten her right up._ And with that I headed up to Ozpin's office.

As I was walking through the winding halls and waiting in the elevator, my mind drifted back to when I had first arrived at Beacon. My friends from mistral all decided to go to the best school to train as Huntsman and Huntresses, to protect those that cannot protect themselves and cleanse the world of the monsters inhabiting it.

The headmaster was different all those years ago, he was a short large man, but he wasn't to be underestimated, he was the headmaster for a reason. He had two War Axe rifles and they were brutal in his hands. An all-out attacker without a concern for himself, and yet he came out of every confrontation without any major damage done to him.

The winding halls stopped and I arrived at an elevator, I pressed the top button and waited patiently as the doors closed and for the elevator to rise. This time my team filled my mind, we were a unique team with a unique name to match. We were XFRE, Crossfire, a team meant for deep strikes into the hearts of Grimm nests. Whether they were Beowolves, Nevermores or even King Taijitus we always succeeded.

XFRE had me, Xander Mac, Team leader and only guy of team XFRE. Fuchsia Jones, a strong but kind and patient woman who always who calm the fights of the team. Magnolia Rouge, a joker among not just the team, but the entire school, and finally the beautiful Ms. Sapphire Ecru, the, surprisingly hotheaded one of the group. Able to go from Zero to One hundred in a split second, but always directed her anger and volatile attitude to making herself or others better.

A soft ding interrupted my thoughts as I reached the top of the tower. The elevator doors slowly opened to reveal a large office in the centre of the clock mechanisms. _Alright, _t_ime to get this over with._ I walked halfway up to the desk and stopped to stay at attention.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" I announced my already known presence.

"Yes. Please take a seat Xander." I sat down and got ready for a long winded speech about honor and valour.

"What's your relationship with Blake?" He started coldly. I was shocked, but my face didn't move a muscle in response though. How much information had he gained before I had even got the job?

_Well, no use hiding anything dfrom him, he was going tov find out anyway._ "I was raised as an older brother of sorts to her, we share a common goal now and I wish to catch up and use her teasm to my advantage tol find some very important people to me."

"I see, and what do you propose to do after this job is done, Xander?" He was still cold and calculating

"Lay low, hopefully the storm will pass right over us. If not, I'll need a safe place for her to stay which is why she's safe, at least relatively, here. If the storm hits at all." I reply in the same manner.

"What if Blake and the rest of Team RWBY get hurt. Will you personally assure the safety of team RWBY?" He seemed suspicious of my intentions.

"I have no desire to be a guardian for team RWBY; however, if they choose to join the fighting I will assign them to the least deadly part of the fighting." Trying to reassure Ozpin and Goodwitch, but failing.

Ozpin sighed and put his head in his hand, "While I appreciate your honesty the protection of the people, namely my students, is my priority." He raised his head, "I cannot allow you to be around my students if you're going to endanger them, I'm sure you understand my intentions."

"Yes sir, I understand." I sighed, "Still, I need to acquire the information from the source before I add in more factors to pollute it. From this point I hope you understand, and I will make all attempts to keep them from harm, but," I paused to make sure they had my attention "I need to complete my goal and finish my mission."

"Is this a mission assigned from one of the available jobs?" Glynda asked, but she already knew the answer.

"No, this is a personal mission that I have no financial gain from; however, I wouldn't mind having some payment from indirectly completing a mission in the same area." I added hopefully.

Ozpin smiled, "We might be able to cook up a couple jobs in the area of your operations."

"Also, Blake might want to spend time with me and that might not be good for my operations. So if she asks when I'm on a mission that can't be interrupted or compromised, I need you to make sure you'll keep her safe. Not only for my sake, but for hers as well. Since your students are one of your main concerns, you could aid me in keeping her out of the loop." I finished what sounded like trying to strike a deal.

"I see, well I'll see what I can do." He paused and sipped from his coffee, "But if this comes back to Beacon, you will be held accountable for the deaths of any students." He was sharp at the end of his sentence, I visibly swallowed to hopefully show that I clearly understood.

"Other than that, I assume this was the jist of what you wanted to talk to me about?" I asked

"Yes, it is. Have a good evening Mr. Mac." He finished, dismissing me.

I stood up, turned around and made my way to the elevator. I had to prepare for Friday night.

* * *

"Where's this teacher that's your friend, Blakey?" Yang asked, they were clearly left waiting for the past ten minutes.

"He was always a bit late, even when he wanted to be on time. I really think he's never been on time in his life." Answered Blake.

"That just goes to show that he's just lazy and never prepared." Spouted Weiss

"We shouldn't make snap judgements, Weiss" Retorted Ruby.

"That's right, it leaves a bad impression for those around who don't know the individual." I answered smartly.

"How did you manage to sneak up on us, Blake would've heard you." Asked Ruby

"I trained Blake, I kept my best secrets to myself." They looked a little surprised, except Blake of course, "A magician never gives away his best trick until he's about to retire girls!" I smiled my big stupid grin.

"Anyway, where are we headed?" Asked Yang

"Into the city silly, anyway I know a place. I think you're already acquainted with him Yang." I winked at her.

* * *

"Whoa! What are they doing here?" Junior asked, very surprised.

Junior Xiong was an owner of a club in downtown vale. He and team RWBY had been previously acquainted with the Torchwick in the Atlysian Paladin, unfortunately I didn't know this.

"What, you already know them, great! That means I won't have to do introductions. Anyway I'll take three pints of Atlas Black brew, and I 'm guessing you'll take some delicious fruity drink blondey?" I looked to Yang.

"Yeah, a strawberry sunrise, no ice and-" Yang started.

"A little umbrella in it, right?" I finished for her enthusiastically.

"Yeah, how'd you guess?" she was curious.

"You seem like the party hard type, right?" I answered jokingly, she smiled slyly.

"Um, uh, Mr. Mac?" Ruby shyly interjected.

"Call me Xander outside of Beacon and yes miss..?" I forgot her name, crap.

"Ruby sir, and I'm not old enough to drink." She said hesitantly.

"Of course I know that, you don't expect me to corrupt a minor." I pointed to Blake, as she was about say something. "I don't want to hear a word from you about _that_ time."

Yang, Weiss and Ruby looked at each other questioningly. I thought about telling that story for a minute, but it'll have to wait for another time.

"Anyway Ms. Rose, I can cover any drink you want that isn't alcoholic." I restated.

"What about us two Mr. Mac?" Weiss said hoping for a gentleman to pick up their tab.

"You're a Schnee, you could cover it with that massive fortune your father has." I almost instantly regretted saying that, the way Weiss' face twisted between sadness and anger in an instant was almost amazing. She learned to hide it too well. "Think of it as a thank you note to your father, also a little bit of revenge." She was a little curious at this statement, "Using it to pay the bar tab of a faunas and a faunas sympathizer. Sounds like a subtle bit of revenge to me, even if it is quite petty."

Satisfied with that half-cocked statement a small smirk appeared on her face, Yang, I'll cover your drinks too. Yang almost seemed too happy with this statement.

"Hey, professor, let's go drink-for-drink." Yang said with a very cocky tone.

"Yang, that's a bad very idea," I've known him for a very long time, and if he's been keeping up with his, _habits_, he'll drink you under the table before you get a chance."

"Aw, you ruined the surprise kitten. I would've had her curled up under a rock two days straight." I answered disappointedly.

"Why would she be curled up under a rock for two days?" Ruby asked innocently.

"Because that would be the hangover that almost kills her." I replied in a deceitful tone.

"Come on, let's do it." Yang continued to try to dig her own grave.

"No, Blake would find a way to have my head." I had to give her that, Blake smiled a little at that statement.

We sat down at a table close to the dance floor, I started to spin the story about my past just before I had supposedly died.

* * *

"Go! You need to keep her safe, at least for me." I looked Adam in the eye with a seriousness he'd only seen once before.

We were in the middle of a Beowolf lair about five miles south of our village, and they had just backed off to regroup, I didn't know how long we had but we would take it for now. It needed to be cleared out as a job for the city, we took it thinking it would be a small pack of about 20-30 Beowolves. Unfortunately we were very wrong, the lair housed a pack that was almost 70 strong and we weren't huntsman or huntresses so the danger was very apparent as there was only 10 of us.

"Why, what will I tell her? What about proof, you know that's she won't accept it without proof." He was right, she wasn't stupid. I then ripped off the bracelet she had made for me when she was a kid.

"Are you sure, you know how much that means to you." He was right. Blake was taught to never accept things at face value, always doubt it unless there is undeniable proof to validate the fact.

"Yes I am." Tears started to form under my eyes, he knew how important this was to me as well. "This will tell her that I am gone and will also motivate her to do what's right in the world."

"Hey Adam, I know you and I haven't seen eye-to-eye lately and even with our fight, I need you to do this one last favour." He looked at me with a respect I haven't seen in years. "I need you to teach Blake how to fight without compromising herself. If you can do that for me then I can leave knowing that she won't die and you'll have finally paid off that debt to me."

"Hey I was seven for that time, and you could've dropped it a while back." He sounded upset at that remark, which was understandable, he was still a kid then.

"Alright, I'll clear a way for you boys to leave then I'll lead them away from the village." I prepared my weapons, Smoldering Ash, two blades of a scorched bronze colour that started from the elbow and extended three feet past my wrist. I could bring the flat side of the blades together to form a small shield for minimal protection. They also pivoted 180 degrees at my wrist to reveal the 9mm submachine guns inside.

I leapt at the pack of Beowolves head on, firing in all directions hoping to take out a few in the process. They started to split up and I saw the opening, I looked back at Adam who was paired with the wounded.

"GO, NOW!" I yelled back to Adam

He looked at the opening and gathered his men and took off, whenever a few stragglers were slowing down I worked even harder to keep them Grimm off of them. _I'll have to use my semblance._ I felt the scales on my body start to spread out along my chest, along my arms and legs, and my vision started to darken, the very apparent side effect of my impenetrable shield. After my vision was totally lost I knew that I had to channel my aura for sensory use and kept by the slower individuals. I was almost like a snake, silent until I struck or to shield my allies.

My semblance, while useful for a tournament style match, against Grimm it wasn't very useful because the Grimm didn't have auras. So I had to rely on some help from the slower individuals

"4 o'clock, 45 degrees up, and 5 metres back." Someone shouted

I lifted my right blade to slice at the Grimm coming, I felt my blade slow slightly and then continue through the Grimms flesh. I heard a small cry as I finished spinning around to catch up to the group. This continued for what felt like forever when in reality it was only about 100 metres. My aura sensory was beginning g to fade and my vision was slowly starting to return and my body was aching for rest. _I was afraid of this, I can't make it to the end while protecting them. I need to break away and draw the Beowolves away._

The opening of the cave was coming up, everyone got happy, except Adam and I, and we knew that the Grimm needed to be taken care of. I stayed behind just at the entrance to continue to ensure their escape.

"Xander, what are you doing?" Adam looked back, but he already knew what I was doing.

"I'll make a bet. If I make it back to camp, you owe me a week and a half of no work for what I just did okay?" I joked, I knew I wasn't heading back to the camp and so did he. Although he thought I was going to die.

"It's a deal," he switched his focus to the injured. "Let's go everyone, Xander will meet us back at the camp." He and the rest of the group left for the camp as I started to slow down so the Grimm would focus on me.

"Alright, it's do or die now." I mumbled to myself. "Time for a distraction." I looked around and the only thing I could do to temporarily slow down the pack was cause a cave in. _It'll be close so I'll need to be precise. _I brought Smoldering Ash up and started, to slice at the walls of the cave as I was nearing the exit. I had to time it right otherwise I would be crushed under the falling rocks as well. The Beowolves only started to grasp what I was doing once it was too late, the cave walls started to buckle as I continued to assault the walls as I ran toward the exit, Adam and the rest of the group were already long gone and I had been slowing down significantly.

"Come on, just one more push!" I yelled out to myself. The falling rocks started to fall all around I jumped and I just made it out as the sound of a cave collapsing behind me were very loud. As the dust settled I felt the warm sun on my face and I stood up, my body searing in pain and the pain only got more apparent as I inspected my body and the adrenaline started to dissipate as well.

My back was all torn up from multiple strikes and my right eye was still only seeing through a shade of red, I checked my head and found a gash leading from the back of my head up to the top of my skull and I could feel the bone as well. _Looks like I got away by the skin of my teeth, now time to head to Mistral and then to Vale. I need to get to Beacon._ As I started my now 9 kilometre trek to Mistral, I looked for the pack that I left outside the cave. It had meager medical supplies but just enough to stop the bleeding and cover up the most serious of my wounds. My journey had begun and I was left with my thoughts as I started to create a new life for myself.

* * *

"And that's how I left, I earned myself quite a few scars and what feels like a very good story to tell as well." I finished telling what happened, it was getting late now and I could see the fatigue from Ruby and Weiss, Yang was still sipping on her third drink and I had already pounded back my fifth Pint and was feeling the effects of it by now.

"Well girls, I don't want to know what time it is and I should probably get you back to you dorm." I downed the rest of my drink and asked for the cheque.

"How many ways are you splitting the cheque tonight?" The waitress asked.

"Only two, I have the little ones here." I pointed at Ruby, "and she has theirs." I motioned to Weiss covering Blake and Yang's drinks.

"Alright, paper or plastic?" The waitress asked

"Plastic for me please." I answered, I paid for Ruby's and my drink, which set me back a chunk of my pay so I had to shop smart this week for groceries.

"Paper please." Weiss answered She took out her wallet and paid for the drink, and leaving a sizable tip.

We left the club and I gave Junior a wave. We made our way to the airfield so we could head back to Beacon

* * *

I was slowly making my way to the edge of Beacons landing zone, I sat on the edge and stared out to the world in front of me.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't protect her from everything you wanted me to. I failed in that Ivory and Lily, hopefully you can forgive me now though, now she really is safe too." Tears were starting to build up in my eyes. I then heard footsteps of someone coming behind me, I just sat there and cried for what felt like forever before I felt a hand touch my back.

"It's not your fault that you couldn't take her with you, you needed to leave and see the world for what it really was." Ozpin's voice felt like a welcome sign to hear, the calculating genius also had a heart of gold when it came to people.

"Thank you professor, I need to meet someone out here and if they see me like this she'll know something is up." I cleared my head and wiped away the tears.

"Alright, but don't expect me to stand by while both my students and my staff have emotional break downs in the beginning of the year." I smiled after that statement.

"Yes, sir." I chuckled while still wiping away tears.

He left, then about twenty minute later Blake came out to join me.

"Can't sleep, kitten?" I asked

"No, just thinking about your story. You never really said goodbye, you know?" She added

"Yeah, but just like your mom said, 'If you don't say Goodbye, your never really gone.' right?" I answered.

She started crying now, I motioned for her to sit down beside me and rest her body against mine.

"I still have it you know, the bracelet. I never once thought about getting rid of it." I heard that and it shook me, I still remember how important it was when she gave it to me. I felt a pang of guilt, I had sworn that I wouldn't get rid of it either.

"Well now you can give it back to me so we'll always know that it's safe with its owner." She looked up at me once I finished speaking. I reached my arm around her and held her tight. "You're big brother's not going anywhere anymore."

We just sat there for a while holding staring into the black void of darkness, the cool air keeping us just awake enough. We started to head back to the school and we separated so I could find my bed and she could head back to her dorm. _Adam can't touch you while your big brother is hear._

As I entered my room I threw my clothes in a pile by my dresser at the end of my bed. I had a fair sized apartment, compared to the apartments in downtown Vale, with a small kitchen and a living room too. I just lied down in my bed and slowly my mind drifted off to my team when our first day at Beacon. I smiled as I remembered and dozed off into my dreams.


	4. Chapter 4: The Rift that has divided Us

**The Rift that Divides Friendship**

"Well why would you want to work with the Humans? They've only treated us like monsters and lesser beings!" Adam roared, filling the room with his voice, he continue to defy my idea of a trade agreement with Mistral.

We had been facing a food shortage for months now and a medicine shortage just started showing early signs, we needed to make a deal with the people of Mistral whether we liked it or not. People were getting sicker and we didn't have the proper medications to treat the wounded. Only leaving their aura, for those that had unlocked it, to heal them. Sometimes their bodies couldn't keep up with the use and the recovery of their aura so a lot of faunas had died while in recovery.

"Because Adam, if we forsake the help that's offered to us as equals then we will become the monsters that they treated us as. I approached them asking for help, not as a faunas, but as someone who was worried about the welfare of his friends and Family. My mother died out in the field and my father died in a hospital bed because YOU WERE TOO GOD DAMN PROUD!" At this point I had grabbed the collar of his shirt and his face was right in front of mine, his dark grey eyes staring into my one dead eye and one eye full of enough fury for both. "You wanted to prove that you could protect us all by continuing to live out here, and while it has been good for a long time, we need to evolve and work with them." I let go of his collar, he straightened it.

"What about the scars on you, whenever you went out to protest you came back with more. People throwing rocks and even worse things at you just because they think you're inferior." He did make a very valid point at that, we were always treated as lesser beings by the humans who were there to oppose us. "So how else to get respected but to show them we can be the ones to threaten their lifestyle."

"Alright, so how did I earn your respect, huh? How did I become the most respected individual in this village then, hm?" I asked Adam.

"You stood up for what you thought was right and never resorted to violence to get your point across. You only got violent when protecting someone, or defending yourself. That's how earned my respect." He answered with the truth, I wouldn't hurt anyone during our protests. I would only draw my weapons to protect the other protesters, never to hurt them, at least maliciously.

"So why are you resorting to violence to fix this, we won't see the change until we're either too old to fight or protest, or we'll be six feet under. We're not fighting for our rights but the rights of those who come after us, they're the ones who will benefit from our sacrifice." I can't deal with the problems and him trying to undermine my authority, it needs to be fixed.

"Alright then Xander," Adam looked like he was about to explode. "How about a deal, we fight and if I win you step down and hand the torch over to me, but if you win I won't question anything I do you do for the rest of my time on this planet. Deal?" With this deal in place I could either step down and go my own way and become a huntsman or bring the White Fang into the light and continue to show the humans that we are fighting for the rights of all faunas.

"It's a deal," if violence was the only solution to this problem, then I needed to fight to prove that I can and will lead us to the right path. "So where is the location and time of our fight?"

In a flash Adam rushed me and we pinned me against the wall in his house. "We start now and here, this is where I'll show everyone that I am the strongest." He grabbed my shirt and threw me through the window beside us and I crashed on the ground. _I need to get Smoldering Ash there's no way I'll beat him without it. _I ran as fast as I could to my house looked back and I started to flare my aura and prepared for an assault, I looked back to see Adam strolling out of his house with an almost psychotic grin on his face, his pearly white teeth in a full smile his eyes completely devoid of reason or doubt.

For once in my life I truly felt afraid about my safety inside this village, I had always been the strongest one here once I earned the position. No one had questioned my judgements because I always sought out council to justify my actions, but this look of the basest of rage and fury was from the only one I considered to be my brother. He pulled his sword to my throat without hesitation and threw me into a fight for my life, Blake's in the village too if she sees us fighting then we'd be in trouble.

I broke into a sprint like no other, I reached my place and destroyed the door on my way in. I ran upstairs and found Smoldering Ash on the mount I had put it on above my bed. I took the dual blades and attached them to my arms. I faced the door to my room and left my house pausing slightly looking at my front door. _If he wanted to chase me, he probably would've. I probably was too drastic with the way I entered the house._ I left my home, walking toward the training grounds seeing Adam waiting there for me sent a shiver down my spine.

"This is where it all started Xander, where I made you that promise that I would become the strongest in our village." He never forgot, surprisingly neither did I, that was the day he got so mad that he had promised me that he wouldn't lose to me the next time we fought. I told him that it would never happen, but, here we stand in the same training circle the he made that promise to me. "So," Adam continued. "Are we going to do this or what, my blade does need to be used."

"Well here we stand Adam, on the final resting place of our friendship." I got into position, readied my blades and prepared for the fight of my life.

I an instant Adam rushed forward and drew Wilt and met Smolder, my left blade, the bang of steel rang throughout the village and people started to come out of their houses to see what the commotion was. They were met with the sight that they never should've seen. Their two strongest fighters going at one another without any protection from each-others blades. My mind was suddenly brought back to the fight when Wilt came for my face in an upward forward slash. I just moved my head in time, earning a close shave of my head, and rolled behind him brining Ash, my right blade, to meet Blush, his sheath for Wilt and a short range rifle, my blade sparking as it scraped the metal of Blush and leaving me open for a very obvious counter-attack yet Adam didn't take it. I back flipped to give us some space and readied my stance again.

"You're not even taking this seriously, you want me dead yet you're not even trying." This seemed to get to him, he always fought sloppy when angry. "You're nothing but all talk Adam, just like when you swore you could protect Blake and you ran instead. You're a coward-"

The butt end of Blush was suddenly rammed into my stomach, _I let my guard down,_ and I keeled over and threw up a little. I wiped my mouth and stood up straight. I needed to keep my Aura activated to stop an attack like that again. My body was a little woozy and my eyes were hazy, this kind of fight would be one to ultimately decide the fate of the White Fang.

I rushed Adam and although he had me beat in speed, I had my defense, he wouldn't beat me while I had that activated. Adam; however, knew my limits and would push me to them and somehow beyond them just to win. He flared his Aura and came at me full speed, I reciprocated and charged him Smolder met Wilt and Ash met Blush, the strikes continue to ring out all over the village. I jumped to avoid the horizontal slice then drove Ash downward to his shoulder, there was no full impact because of his Aura shielding him but he became aware of how well close quarters fights were my specialty. He fired off a couple rounds of Blush and I held the flat of Smolder to block it then, a set of hands grabbed Smolder and launched me into the air, I looked to where I was and saw that Adam's Hair and the red on his clothes started to glow. I was totally vulnerable in the air so I flared my aura and activated my semblance. My vision started to disappear and I felt myself grow heavy but for Adam's attack I was prepared, at least I hoped.

Adam was now glowing red and as I fell he noticed the bronze color spreading all over my body, he couldn't wait any longer, he then launched himself up at my falling body and, what seemed like from the old videos, he slashed at my body without even lowering his position in the air. The attacks continued to rain down and I wouldn't let up any of my defense and he wouldn't let up any of his attack as well. This bombardment of slashes felt like days of waiting, my aura was beginning to fade and that meant my semblance would fade as well. One final slash was delivered to my torso and I was sent flying down to the ground. I landed with enough impact to create a small crater, about a 5m radius, I heard Adam land and start panting.

My vision was returning to me and as it cleared I noticed that Adam was running toward me I had almost fully drained my aura and so did he. This is where the fight got real, I brought smoldering Ash to my chest to protect from the slash coming at me, but Adam quickly switched to Blush and fired a round that pierced my shoulder, missed the bone and left a tear in my skin. I felt fire where my skin should've been, I ran at Adam and drove Smolder into his arm, and the blade mostly missed its target but still tore shallowly into the muscle of Adam's right arm. He grunted slightly and brought Wilt in an upward vertical slice. My left eye was the recipient of the strike, I could no longer see through my left eye and I could feel it pulsing, we needed to end this fight soon, because we will die if it continues. I back off and gave us about 20 feet between each other. I pivoted my blades into their gun position and started to spray bullets in his direction. A few of them pierced skin and I fired Blush in quick succession leaving bullets inside me as well. We emptied our magazines and ran toward each-other again, me swinging Smolder and Ash and him swinging Wilt and Blush to meet each blow.

Then all at once we both stopped, I looked down and saw Wilt had pushed its way through my torso and Smolder had done the same to Adam as well. Blood was dripping from both of our sword and we started coughing up blood, while we pulled our swords from each-others bodies, my wounds weren't as serious as his, my blade being slightly larger than his.

As blood conitued to pour from our open wounds, I started to feel dizzy began to stumble. Adam was also looking like he was about to pass out and then my world faded to black as I fell to the ground.

* * *

As I woke up, I began to take in my surroundings, as my vision was still a little blurry I couldn't make out the room I was in very clearly. The very apparent smell of disinfectant made it obvious that I was in the local infirmary. I began to turn my head to make sure that I wasn't too stiff from my time in the infirmary. My neck felt stiff and a little scratchy, I looked down to see what was there and I had started to grow a small beard. _I must have been knocked out for about a week to a week and a half._ As my sision started to clear more I looked closer at my surroundings. There was a bag of clear liquid being fed into my arm and cords leading onto my chest as well, I felt something uncomfortable in my southern regions and decided to take a peak. What I thought could only be for my health, and the beds cleanliness, was a tube leading up into me, and then someone that looked like the nurse walked in, without me noticing too.

"Getting a little curious about what we did to you?" My face, although still bandaged, was as visibly red as the trees of Forever Fall outside of Vale. "Well don't worry now that you're up we can get you assessed." I began to sit up in my bed, realising that was a bad idea as pain shot all across my torso and through the core of my body, and I visibly winced. "That's probably not a good idea Xander, you don't want to reopen any stiches do you? We worked hard to sew your body back together, you wouldn't want all that hard work to go to waste would you?"

"No ma'am, I wouldn't." I finally recognized that voice. It was Ryan Willowwood's wife, Sienna, she was as strong as Beowolf pup, but when it came to our health, nobody questioned it. She was one of the other most respected individuals in our village and everyone knew why. If she told you to take a medicine and you wouldn't, child or not, she'd give you a glare that could probably freeze a Goliath in its tracks and reconsider walking in her direction.

"So, let's keep you bedridden until I deem you worthy of at least walking around on your own." The stern doctor voice was there, but also what sounded like a caring mother. That didn't surprise me though, she became my mother when my actual mother was killed and was there for me when my father had died too. She was also a mother to many of the unfortunately orphaned individuals, there was a collective house where the parentless children would stay and she would live there with them until they were old enough to fight for the defence of the village.

"What happened after I passed out, what happened to Adam?" My voice shouldn't have such concern for the one who just tried to kill me; however, the safety of all concerned me the most.

"He'll be fine, right now we're going to keep you two away from each other. With what just happened last week the village is just about back to normal. What we're doing in here is keeping you two on opposite ends of the facility so another war won't start." She finished.

"Another war?" I began, "What actually happened after we passed out, you can't keep me in the dark forever." I had become my cold and calculating self, it was only seen when I needed information and I wouldn't take anything else for an answer.

"First of all, don't use that tone with me mister, I know for a fact you took after me in my 'no-bullshit' tone." I evidently became a little red faced at this, she continued nonetheless. "After you passed out two groups rose up, one supporting Adam and one supporting you. Originally we thought that they were to just support and look after each of you. Once the groups started to get in fights outside the infirmary, Blake and her parents intervened and told them that if there was still any bad blood between the two of you. You two would fight it out again." She finished giving me all the details.

"I really got myself into a mess for this one, eh?" I started, "putting the Belladonnas in that position is something they shouldn't have to. I need to go find her and apologize about all this."

"You're damn right you do, she put herself through so much stress, that she can't handle it anymore. You shouldn't put a girl through that kind of stress, her two older brothers just tried to kill each other. How do you think that makes her feel?" Sienna harshly added. "Thank goodness someone stepped in to take over while the two of you were out."

"Where's Blake, and who took over?" I needed to find Blake and apologise for this.

"There was a small group of older warriors that stepped up and took over for the time being." That made sense, the young needed to learn to keep the peace inside the walls while the older more seasoned veterans fought off the Grimm; however there were times, such as this one, where some of the hunters needed to intervene and moderate the situation and interactions of the people growing up. It did seem like a very unreasonable way to run a village, but eventually we all learn to cooperate. The sparring matches always were a great stress relievers, when they got in heated argument they went into the matches to let off some steam, then continue the debates when they're fatigued. "But Blake is back at her parent's house now, probably very upset about what happened, once she's ready I'll get her in hear, then to see Adam and finally to have the make shift council decide what happens next."

"So what happens during my recovery then miss 'badass of the village?'" A large smile filled with teeth appeared on my face, she looked at me like I deserved a punch to the face. I have always been able to switch the tone of the setting quite quickly, even if only for a moment. It was always that weird quirk of mine, to change the mood to get everyone to lighten up. I was looked at in quite a way that I could've been diseased when I first tried to lighten the mood, but, eventually they were welcomed and a serious tone could always be ruined with me in the room.

"You rest, that's what happens." If words could kill, I would be a dead man, no doubt about it. She then left room and I decided it would be best for me to follow her advice, after a short while the world became black and I drifted into the void.

* * *

I was sitting in my parent's living room sipping on some hot chocolate and reading through my favorite book, Rodin the Ninja of the Moon, I had always had a fondness with the books of ninja and their shadowy fighting style.

"I don't care what happens with those two I need to make sure that our village stays safe, that is my top priority." Father sounded stressed, it usually wasn't good but the tone of his voice showed that he was concerned. His mind was always a mess when there were things to do, amazingly he never lost anything either. That was mostly my mother's doing, she would always keep his office, in fact his entire life, in order. She was beautiful and smart, she didn't have father's strength but, it didn't matter. My mother always was someone to defuse a situation with their words, never violence unless it absolutely came to it.

"Listen, I need to make sure that those two groups are calmed down. No, I understand that but-Yes I realize what they did means; however, we need to make sure that a confrontation doesn't happen. That would wreak havoc and potentially destroy the village." Father wasn't the one for diplomatic reasoning but, he knew when it was needed most. Mother was the best at it though, she wasn't the fighter that father was but she could still be quite efficient in her fighting style.

"Honey let me take the call, I'll be able to sort this out. You continue cooking dinner and get Blake to bed." She had the call transferred to her and went upstairs, there had been new floors added to almost all the houses about a year ago, it really did help to improve the quality of life here.

"Alright," father took a breath of relief. "Time to work on dinner, Blake would you like to help?" He already knew my answer, I was too invested in this book to just put it down. "Blake, finish the chapter and help in the kitchen, okay?"

"Yes father," exasperation filled my voice and I slightly smirked, I had just started a new chapter a couple minutes ago. "I'll be in as soon as I'm done."

He made his way into the kitchen, and I started to hear knives cutting vegetables and my father quietly swearing under his breath about nearly cutting his finger off. Our house was a medium sized house, about 200m2 for each floor, so we had plenty of room now for everything. I could faintly hear mother upstairs in her room, talking about how to solve this problem they were stuck with. One party believed that Xander was attacked and the fight was Adam's fault, the other party believed that it was Adam who was attacked and Xander was to blame. In this matter I can't tell who's to blame, both Adam and Xander are like my older brothers. Adam was always the one to fight and train with me, but he had always been harsh and it became even more apparent when he started growing older. Xander was the overprotective older brother, he told me once that 'A delicate Rose should always have thorns,' he never stopped encouraging me to improve in my weapon skills but he would always push me away from any fights when he and I were involved.

I started to hear footsteps come down the stairs, "How'd the talks go honey?" my father called out, he had even more superb hearing than me.

"It's getting almost unmanageable, at this rate they're be only two different groups of teenagers throughout the whole village." She sat down at the kitchen table and poured some coffee, from the morning brew, and started to drink it when but she added sugar at the last moment, then drank the coffee.

"At least they'll be able to share something in common, for once." Father had stated quite sarcastically, mother laughed and I smiled as well. Most of the teenagers learning to operate an entire village go through quite a bit of stress. "They'll be so preoccupied with each other that they might actually cooperate with us." They both laughed heartily at that.

"Blake! Your father said when you done the chapter, from what I can tell you started a new chapter before he got you, so put the book down and come help prepare the meal." My mother sounded quite upset now, I put the book down and made my way into the kitchen to help cook.

* * *

As I lay in bed, I wondered about the condition of my friends and brothers, how they had shown me how to fight and fully activate my aura then also find my semblance too. My family was slowly falling apart, Xander and Adam were tearing us apart and they both probably knew it. I felt the gentle pull of the void at my mind. And I drifted to sleep.

* * *

My eyes parted and the black of the night slowly dispersed, the dark caves twists and turns were becoming more apparent as my vision returned. My chambers were a small 20m2 room, its large enough to house one person and that's how I liked it, solitary. I strode to my closet and put on my black coat and pants. I then walked toward my weapons locker, opened it up to reveal Wilt and Blush, and retrieved them from their stand and attached them to my waist. I strode to the door of my chambers and opened the heavy metal door, there was a low creaking sound as the door slid open and I looked into the hallway ahead of me. Two of my soldiers were standing guard by the end of the Hallway, they looked down the hall and saw me.

"I'm sorry for the disturbance sir, I didn't mean to wake you up." The left guard stammered out.

"You didn't wake me, I woke on my own. Is she here?" I answered, still slightly fatigued from my long sleep.

"Yes, she's waiting in the war room." The other guard stated, they were starting to relax.

"Good thank you, I can take care of myself from here on," I spoke calmly but firmly. "You're free to take some leave, get some rest and prepare for the battles to come. I need all my soldiers at their full fighting strength."

"Yes Sir, thank you sir." They both chimed, they breathed a sigh of relief before walking to the regular guard barracks. All the soldiers were ordered to take at least one week's leave before the fighting began. That way they could focus on the fight and not worry about anything else. I needed soldiers after all, not boys crying about their problems with the world.

I made my way down to the double door at the end of the long dimly lit hallway, I hated that we were still hiding. After Torchwick had botched the invasion with the train, we had to lay low once again. The Vytal festival went off without a hitch because of the meddling of Blake and her huntress friends, Beacon had their own little army of experienced warriors. These next few months will be some of the most intense fighting the White Fang has experienced. I arrived at the double doors, put a hand on each door and strode in.

"Glad you could finally make it, sir." The sound of the female voice called as the doors started to close behind me.

"I don't need your attitude Cinder, I need your Dust manipulation skills. So sit down, shut up and pay attention." She seemed visibly irritated by that statement: however, she stuffed her protesting and sat quietly.

"Alright, here's the plan. Beacon, Atlas, Vacuo, and Mistral all have schools to train Huntsman and Huntresses. Fortunately I have placed trained members of the White Fang at each school except for beacon, it's been tough to get someone there because of Ozpin's strict rules." I finished.

"That won't matter once we take out the other schools, they'll be totally defenceless for when we strike." One of my commanders stated, I forgot the names but the positions were important nonetheless.

"Wrong, we're attacking Beacon first. Once we cut the head off then the rest of the body cannot function. Beacon's graduates have always been the most talented, which is why we're going to attack there first." I stated, the commanders were looking like they had doubts about my plans. "I know our initial plan was to attack all the other schools and then wipe out the last one with one strike. One factor just appeared, Xander Mac, a former childhood friend who I believed to be dead."

Looks of concern and confusion appeared on their faces. "Don't worry, he will believe our plan to be the former one, not the updated plan. This will throw him in a loop for a little bit, maybe for long enough to stop him from making a move."

"Understood sir." Three of my commanders responded.

"I understand completely, I'll be sure to get Roman and the other members in Vale informed of the plan." Cinder stated, sounding almost surprised at the sudden change to the plans.

"Alright we'll get the details down later, start moving the troops to the base just outside of Vale. We will meet up there in three months, and start preparing for the assault." I ordered. I turned around and strode to the double doors, we'll need time to work out the issues. At least Junior was able to inform me that Xander does live and is even teaching at Beacon. Rage burned inside me and I took a sharp left turn in the hallway, to the combat room door, and began to train. Ever since that fight Xander and I had we had destroyed our home and also our relationship with Blake. _No stop thinking like that, Blake left and that was her choice. I can't have Xander running back into my now almost perfect dream and destroying it. _So I prepared myself for a long gruelling training session, one that would last long into the night. I needed to be at my best.

**A/N: I'm terribly sorry about the tardiness of this chapter but if you're still reading, then I really do appreciate it. So if you'll continue to be patient, I'll keep rolling out the chapters. So please review this chapter. **


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